Chapter 409 Qinyu turns against the Empress and the Crown Prince!

Li Qing slammed her hand on the armrest in a fit of anger.

His eyes flashed with cold malice as he pointed at Zulia and roared, "Pour it in!"

"Pour three more large bowls of water down her throat!"

In his greed and vomiting, Zulya nearly vomited his intestines out.

In the end, mouthfuls of blood were vomited out along with the pig's blood.

They won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

That Zulya truly deserves to be torn to pieces!

Li Qingluo: "Cut the flesh off her arms, piece by piece! Then throw her back into the stone cell, but don't let her really die!"

Zulya roared, "No! Kill me—kill me!"

"Kill me—"

The shrill screams echoed through the valley, like the wails of vengeful ghosts.

Li Qingluo had no time to hesitate any longer.

After being killed three times, Zongzheng Wuheng still asked to see her, but she refused outright each time.

"He must know everything about Zuliya's poisoning. He might even have been the one who ordered it!"

"That Zongzheng Wuheng is a truly spineless and rotten bastard!"

“These next few days, you are not allowed to feed him without my permission.”

"Lock him up with the hyenas with iron chains."

She made a fierce statement and then quickly left.

Li Qingluo went straight to the Green Bamboo Courtyard and found Dong Siyuan and Doctor Luo.

After the matter was explained, both of their expressions changed drastically.

"We have to send Ah Jin!"

Li Qingluo: "I'll go and invite her."

Fortunately, when Miao girl Ajin heard that the poison would be put into the water source, she realized the seriousness of the situation.

"I'll go with you."

They quickly rode their horses straight back to the outskirts of Jinling City.

Kill Seven back to the mansion to inform the rest to be killed.

Li Qingluo and Sha Shiyi led the rest of the group to the upper reaches of the Qinhuai River.

Along the way, we didn't see anyone acting strangely.

Fearing that things might be delayed, Li Qingluo asked Luo Fan and the Miao girl A Jin to go and check the water source first.

After walking for several sections, until we were almost in the city, we were able to confirm that there was nothing unusual about the water in the Qinhuai River for the time being.

Ah Jin: "It's possible that the toxicity hasn't been activated yet."

"It's also possible that they haven't had a chance to make a move yet."

Everyone's expressions became extremely solemn.

Li Qingluo: "No matter what, we can't just sit here and wait for things to get worse."

"Kill Seven, you personally lead the men and arrange for everyone to search all the upstream areas outside the city. Anyone with suspicious behavior must be apprehended."

Kill Seven: "Yes, young lady!"

Li Qingluo then decided that he must tie up Princess Qinyu tonight no matter what!

She turned and bowed deeply to the Miao girl, Ajin: "Please, senior, find a way as soon as possible to cure this plague that may endanger the entire city of Jinling."

The others who came with them, Luo Fan and Dong Siyuan, as well as Qin Ling who was carried along, all stared silently at the river.

If the water really has been poisoned.

The entire city of Nanjing will become a living hell.

And everyone they care about will become one of the evil spirits...

Li Qingluo knew all too well how potent this poison was, so her heart felt even heavier.

Doctor Luo: "Luo'er, what do you want to do? We will do our best to cooperate."

Li Qingluo: "Grandpa Luo, is there anything that is non-toxic and harmless, but can make water taste strange and unpleasant, making it temporarily undrinkable?"

Luo Fan: "Yes, there is. You want the people in the city to temporarily stop using the water from the Qinhuai River?"

Li Qingluo nodded emphatically: "Yes. Although this is not a very effective method, it can at least buy us a couple of days."

"Once we've determined whether there's any poison in the river, we can then treat the problem accordingly."

After saying that, she entrusted the matter to Luo Fan and the others.

Then she hurriedly returned to Jinling City.

Li Qingluo passed the news to Qingyangzi, who then immediately sent it to the palace.

Just as evening fell, Zhuiyu and Pofeng arrived at the mansion.

“Young lady, His Highness said that you can give us brothers any orders you may have.”

"His Highness still has some matters to attend to, so he will not be able to leave until tomorrow."

Seeing the two of them appear, Li Qingluo's confidence naturally increased.

She picked up the Azure Sword: "Let's go to the Princess's residence!"

Princess Qinyu's residence was pitch black.

Having suffered severe damage, Qinyu's former glory has been greatly diminished.

The number of people in the mansion is also decreasing.

This was because Li Qinglu had been robbed of blood once.

This is also why Qin Yu now kills people easily when she gets angry.

The servants in the entire princess's residence are now living in fear, all terrified of their mistress, the princess.

Li Qingluo could feel the deathly stillness in the princess's residence.

He gestured to kill one, kill three, and kill nine.

Li Qingluo then looked at Zhuiyu and Pofeng behind her.

Everyone dispersed as planned.

Having just returned to the manor today, Li Qingluo summoned Sha Jiu.

After resting for half a day, Sha Jiujiang recounted clearly what had happened after he parted ways with Li Qingluo the day before.

He first got a eunuch's outfit and stole a eunuch's identity tag that no one would notice.

Then he followed the people from the Imperial Household Department to the Empress's palace.

Princess Qinyu had been sitting on a cold bench in the Empress's palace for an hour.

His face was whiter than rice paper.

When Sha Jiu sneaked in and started rummaging around, the Empress still hadn't shown up.

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, Sha Jiu hid in a place where no one could see him.

Just as Princess Qinyu was getting impatient and full of resentment, preparing to get up and leave, the Empress finally arrived from her palace.

"I had a headache yesterday and couldn't sleep well all night."

"Dieyi and the others were worried about me, which is why they didn't tell you that you had come."

"I just woke up and learned of this, and I have already reprimanded and punished them all. If you are still not satisfied, how about punishing them again?"

She acted like a bodhisattva.

Despite her rosy complexion and even more delicate appearance than many young girls in the countryside, she claimed to have a headache and hadn't slept well all night.

A chill ran through Qin Yu's heart.

She knew that the Empress was no longer the kind person who treated her like a mother.

"Your Majesty, Qinyu dares not."

"It is Qinyu who has disturbed you; please punish her."

The Empress said, "Get up."

"I heard you were sick?"

Xia Miao didn't go this time either.

"It's better that you didn't go; things were in complete chaos this time. Did you know that the Zhong family was plotting a rebellion?"

The empress's eyes were icy cold.

Qin Yu trembled slightly.

She was in such a hurry to enter the palace today because she wanted to ask about Consort De.

But it seems the Queen is going to settle other scores with her now!

Only the Crown Prince knew her identity as the leader of the Lotus Sect.

The Empress was probably unaware of this.

Did the Crown Prince reveal something to her?

Otherwise, her attitude wouldn't have suddenly become so cold.

"Qinyu has heard of it."

Empress: "I've heard about the Lotus Sect. Sooner or later, Yin'er will eradicate it completely!"

Qin Yu's eyes widened instantly upon hearing the threatening tone in her words.

With a wave of her hand, the Empress dismissed Dieyi and everyone else.

Only Sha Jiu remained hidden in a corner where no one noticed him, continuing to listen without moving.

"The Lotus Sect suffered heavy losses after their failed attempt to break prisoners from the city walls, which resulted in a siege and massacre."

"I suppose they... won't be able to stir up any trouble so quickly."

The Empress said, "As long as this cult exists, the court will never be stable. What do you say, Yu'er?"

"By the way, I heard you're going back to the Great Chu?"

"That's true, your wedding is approaching. They're pressuring you from the Western Regions, and you can't keep putting it off, or you'll really become an old maid."

"I heard that the little prince is already fourteen?"

"Now that you can have children, it will be hard for you to teach them well so they can become good husbands."

Qinyu couldn't help but burst into laughter again.

"Your Highness, are you and His Highness planning to completely abandon Yu'er and treat her like a useless pawn?"

"Do you really not know how much Yu'er has done for Your Highness, how much she has sacrificed to get Your Highness back to that position?"

"You only show your face when things are going well, and then hide it when things are peaceful. Now that Yu'er has lost everything she worked so hard to build for Your Highness, you're just going to throw it all away like that?"

"Ha... How ruthless."

Faced with Qin Yu's mockery, the Empress slammed her hand on the armrest: "Zongzheng Yu'er! How dare you question me? Do you really think you're some kind of princess of the Great Liang?"

"In the end, in Daliang, your status is not even as high as that of Princess Nanping."

"If it weren't for Consort Yue's deliberate promotion of you back then, do you think you could have obtained the title and treatment of a princess in Daliang?"

What else do you want?

"You'd better obediently go back to Great Chu and get married. If you're greedy and want what you don't deserve, be careful you won't even be able to leave this Great Liang."

Qin Yu, on the contrary, became calm and composed.

She clasped her hands together and leaned back, quietly watching Empress Gao.

"You've only found some dirt on me."

“My life, Zongzheng Yu’er, is just a worthless piece of trash. If things really get out of hand, you will suffer far more than I have.”

"Your Majesty, are you and the Crown Prince really going to turn against me?"

Empress: "Stop pretending to be powerful with me!"

"You are the leader of a cult, Yin'er has already told me!"

"What an audacious madwoman! There are actually women like you in this world who defy the laws of nature."

"Zongzheng Yu'er, for this matter alone, being torn apart by five horses would be the lightest fate for you."

"I'm warning you, you'd better behave yourself!"

"Otherwise, Yin'er wouldn't mind putting righteousness before family again! In any case, this would also be his achievement."

"And you, just by opening your mouth, everyone around you is dead, what can you possibly accuse Yin'er of?"

Qinyu truly lost completely.

Duan Rongyin turned his back on him ruthlessly, leaving no room for negotiation.

The Empress even brought up old grievances: "Back then in Zhaohua Palace, you ran out wearing Yin'er's jade pendant and made a fool of yourself, but you didn't expect to be recognized by that girl from the Pan family."

"That girl immediately pointed out that you and the Crown Prince had an improper relationship."

"In your passion, you actually dared to kill someone in the palace!"

"If it weren't for me that time, would you still be alive today?"

"Even His Majesty vaguely knew that you were helping Yin'er, otherwise why would he have let you off so easily?"

"Zongzheng Yu'er, don't you realize that you are just a pawn in our plan to bring Yin'er back to the Eastern Palace?"

"Does she really think she's some kind of chosen one? What a joke!"

"You want to be Yin'er's wife? You think you can compare to even one of the Crown Princess's fingers!"